Fish Type: Cod Price: $9.00
Overall, I would highly recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Excellent Potato Score: Good Tartar Score: Excellent Bread Score: Good Miscellaneous Score: Good |  |
Comment: Youve gotta love a quick lunch, and when its at the Avenue Bar youve gotta love it even more. While the fabled Madison Fish Fry spot can be difficult during dinner time, the lunch rush is a far more manageable affair with no long waits required. When you have a gift card the deal is that much sweeter so it was a no-brainer for us this Friday.
The Fish Fry at the Avenue during the noon hour is a 2-piece affair and costs an appropriate $9.25. Swanson (our waitress) came by as soon as we sat down, wasted no time getting us some drinks, and had our order into the kitchen in the blink of an eye. She was a true pro and had what seemed to be half of the dining room on lockdown. Appropriately, the food arrived in a jiffy as if it were willed for by her punctuality.
Your nine and a quarter gets you two big cubes of cod, and the rest of the Fish Fry standards. The fish is thick-cut and has a very creamy flavor. This is one instance where a substantial batter that can actually stand up to a thick cut is necessary. It totally works, thanks to the expert frying, which results in a melding of flavors that is difficult to achieve and rarely replicated.
The Avenue French fries are the standard supper club skin-on jobs, which are tasty, but have that shell that salt simply will not stick to. The Avenue tartar is also the supper club standard, but in this case is done perfectly. It is thick and creamy, with a perfect zip that gets you right in back of the taste buds. It is a blessed blend and the fish simply loves swimming in.
Before the fish you receive a round of those tiny split-top, football-shaped bread buns which are a step-up from the ordinary old dinner roll.
While most everything about this Fish Fry is stellar, the coleslaw doesnt quite meet expectations. The homemade blend is a little raw, and has big, irregular cabbage chunks that make it difficult to scoop. Its also a little on the runny side and just doesnt taste that good.
Youve gotta love a Fish Fry at the Avenue, and when its free youve gotta love it even more. This was another great visit, and its clear that the Food Fight group has restored the things we love about this place. Overall, we highly recommend this Fish Fry and can hardly wait to come back and get another swipe on the card.
avenuebarmadison.com/
1128 E. Washington Avenue
Madison, WI 53704
(608) 257-6877
